Footnotes to the TV series
LORELAI: Mom, I know Gran gives you a hard time, but she did not tell anyone about this guy for a reason.
EMILY: Yes, because she’s embarrassed. She should be. He was dressed like a bookie.
Bookie, a bookmaker, a person that accepts and pays off bets on sporting and other events at agreed-upon odds. The idea that bookies dress in tracksuits seems to be influenced by the TV show The Sopranos – I wonder if Emily has also seen this favourite show of Lorelai’s?
EMILY: I caught some of Love in the Afternoon the other day, the movie. Have you seen it, Mom?
TRIX: I don’t believe I have.
EMILY: Oh, well, it’s wonderful. And a wonderful concept, too, don’t you think? Anyway, I must have the music stuck in my head. That must be why I’m singing it. I mean, what else could it be, hm?
Love in the Afternoon, 1957 romantic comedy film directed and produced by Billy Wilder, based on the 1920 novel, Ariane, Young Russian Girl, by French author. It stars Gary Cooper, Audrey Hepburn, and Maurice Chevalier. The story explores the relationship between a notorious middle-aged American playboy business magnate and the daughter of a private detective hired to investigate him.
The film was a failure at the box office in the US, as audiences thought Gary Cooper was too old to be having an affair with the much younger Audrey Hepburn. However, in Europe it was a major success, released under the name Ariane. The theme music “Love in the Afternoon” was written by jazz composer Matty Malneck.
TRIX: Now, talk to some old women, tell us what it’s like to be young.
LORELAI: Not nearly as much fun since the mandatory sunscreen rule, I’ll tell ya.
In the US, sunscreen began to be regulated in 1978, when Lorelai was ten years old. Apparently she hasn’t had as much fun since that age.
EMILY: It’s on its way, Mom.
TRIX: So is death.
It feels like Trix already knows what’s in store for her.
MRS. VAN WYCK: Then Picasso is obscene … It has six breasts.
TRIX: You cannot be sure if those are breasts. They could be cannons. He was quite obsessed with the Spanish Civil War for awhile.
Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th century, he is known for co-founding the Cubist movement, the invention of constructed sculpture, the co-invention of collage, and for the wide variety of styles that he helped develop and explore.
Picasso painted a number of female nudes that Mrs Van Wyck might be looking at. Nude Woman With Necklace is one possibility, as at my first glance, I also was unsure how many breasts the figure has. On closer examination, some of them are her stomach and thighs. Remember that Mrs Van Wyck is peering at a tiny piece of transparent celluloid to view the painting.
One of Picasso’s most famous works is Guernica, a dramatic portrayal of the bombing of the Basque town of Guernica by German forces during the Spanish Civil War.
After a brief, slightly awkward conversation with her never-before-mentioned old classmate Lindsay, Rory sees her kissing Dean, and realises her ex-boyfriend has moved on. Lane goes to school with Dean and Lindsay, but she has apparently not noticed that they are now together. She addresses this by saying that she “failed” Rory by not keeping tabs on Dean for her.
Lane did used to do a good job letting Rory know what was happening with Dean, but that was back in the days when Rory and Dean were dating. I guess we can assume that Lane is now busy with her own boyfriend, and possibly the relationship between Dean and Lindsay is still quite new.
KIRK: Also, the puck is never referred to as a ball, not according to the book. Again, my bad.
An ice hockey puck is a short cylinder with a closed surface made of rubber. According to Wikipedia, it has been known as a “flat ball”, but Kirk is probably correct that this isn’t in the official regulations he is presumably referring to.
LORELAI: Hey, Jess. You like music, right? The Beach Boys said it best. None of the guys go steady ’cause it wouldn’t be right to leave their best girls home on a Saturday night. Rory is one of the best girls. She’s the best girl, if you want my opinion, and you don’t seem to have the first idea as to how she should be treated.
Lorelai quotes from “I Get Around”, the 1964 song by The Beach Boys, written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love. The autobiographical lyrics describe the group’s reaction to their newfound fame and success, as well as their restlessness concerning the status quo, and their desire to find new hip places. Two lines say:
None of the guys go steady ’cause it wouldn’t be right
To leave their best girl home now on a Saturday night
Lorelai seems to be suggesting to Jess that he shouldn’t have a girlfriend if he’s too “hip and cool” to take her out on weekends. She never bothers asking Jess what the problem is, what his work schedule is like (he works two jobs, as well as going to school), or wonders why Rory can’t be bothered calling Jess or talking to him if any issues come up.
“I Get Around” became the Beach Boys’ first #1 hit in the US, as well as one of America’s biggest hits since the British Invasion and the beginning of an unofficial rivalry between Wilson and the Beatles. It also topped the Canadian charts and reached #7 in the UK. In 2017, “I Get Around” was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
LANE: I’ve never made a guy jealous before. I feel so powerful.
RORY: Just remember, there’s cute jealous and there’s Othello.
Othello, previously discussed
This is the song Dave’s band sing at Mrs Kim’s prayer meeting.
“Amazing Grace” is a 1779 Christian hymn by English Anglican clergyman John Newton. It is an immensely popular hymn, particularly in the United States, where it is used for both religious and secular purposes.
The Annotated Gilmore Girls 